Many of you have found Frey because you were looking for wines that are sulfite free. Some of you are allergic to sulfites, making Frey wine one of the only wines you can enjoy. Some of you are committed to organic winemaking and want an organic wine that is organically produced from the grapes to the glass. Whatever brought you here, we are committed to bringing you the best, no-sulfites-added wines on the market. 

What are Sulfites? 

One of our most asked questions of all times is: what are sulfites? Sulfites are a category of chemicals that are naturally found in minuscule amounts in grapes. For this reason, no wine is going to be completely free from them. So, to be honest, the phrase “wines that are sulfite free” is a misnomer. However, these naturally occurring sulfites are only found in tiny amounts in a finished organic wine.

No Sulfites Added

If you look at a bottle of Frey wine, you can see that it reads “contains only naturally occurring sulfites, no added sulfites.” The law for organic certification states that wines can’t have more than 10 parts per million (ppm) of naturally occurring sulfites. Frey wines are usually closer to 0 ppm. So, Frey wines, and other organic certified wines featuring the USDA organic seal on the label are the wines that come the closest to “wines that are sulfite free” that exist. 

Made with Organic Grapes & Biodynamic Wines

In contrast to the possible total of 10 ppm naturally occurring sulfites found in certified organic wines, wines that are made with organic grapes (but are not processed organically during winemaking) can have synthetic sulfites added up to 100 ppm (that means 90+ ppm are not naturally occurring sulfites, but rather have been added as a synthetic chemical during fermentation). Likewise, wines that are certified as Biodynamic can add up to 100 ppm synthetic sulfites per bottle. All Frey Biodynamic wines however are made without any added sulfites.

All the other wines

Anything else that isn’t certified “Biodynamic” or “Made with Organic Grapes” that you might buy at the store can present with synthetic sulfites of up to 350 ppm per finished bottle of wine. For those of you that have read this far, that’s a full 350 times more sulfites than most Frey wines. That’s arguably a lot of added synthetic sulfites. While we know that wines that are sulfite free don’t actually exist, Frey wines are the closest contender with all of our wines being produced with no sulfites added.

Why are Sulfites added to other wines? 

The amount of sulfites that are allowed in conventional wine-making practices are there because these chemical additives can offer a quick halt to a fermentation process and they also can decrease the oxidation potential of a fermentation. At Frey, we have worked to develop organic methods of fermentation so that we don’t need to add chemicals to make our wines. 

Are there any organic wines with sulfites added during winemaking? 

All wines that are produced organically & bear the USDA “organic” symbol on the bottle are made without the addition of synthetic sulfites during winemaking. Drink the wines that bear the organic seal on their label with confidence! However, there are wines that are “made with organic grapes” that may still add sulfites during the winemaking process; these wines with added sulfites do not feature the USDA organic symbol on the bottle. Many popular “organic” brands still add sulfites to their wines during fermentation. If you don’t see the USDA “organic” seal on the label, your wine may have synthetically produced sulfites added up to 100-350 ppm per bottle of wine.

Frey Wines, here for you

So, if you are looking for a wine made with organic grapes and made using organic winemaking processes, we’re here for you! Frey wines are completely organic, no-sulfites-added wines!